Available on Austlii here, the lengthy decision by Justice Annabelle Bennett boils down to consideration of which party would be most harmed by a decision either way. Apple, the judge found, was marginally the winner on this ground.

In her decision, Justice Bennett seems to offer a ray of hope to Samsung in one part of its defence, saying that the company “has established a prima facie case for the want of novelty of claim” covering Apple’s touch screen patents. However, on some of the touch screen claims, she says, Apple has similarly established that it has a case.

Regarding the heuristics patent, the judge notes that an offer to make a determination was declined, but decided that Apple’s claim was strong enough to support the granting of an injunction.

The judge proposes to give Apple and Samsung the chance to have an early final hearing during 2012 on the heuristics and touch screen patents, “without prejudice to their rights to a later final hearing on all other issues”. ®